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Mojave "Bricked My Wifi" MacBook Pro 2015

G

Grunthaner

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 5, 2009
61
0
What else can I do tips please.

List of what I have done with Wifi dropping within minutes now, trouble shooting 4 weeks.

1. Call Tested:
A. Comcast as my internet provider
B. Motorola as my modem/router device
C. Apple Genius Bar at the Freehold NJ Apple store (they installed .1 update and said go home and test it.
D. Apple technicians 4 different technicians for now going on 4 weeks since I updated to Mojave 10.14.1

2. Apple Tech support had me test my Mac to 4 different homes each with different providers and different hardware and get the same wifi disconnect.

3. Apple Tech support had me check iPad and iPad on my wifi and iPad works fine.

4. Apple Tech support had me check my work PC on my wifi and work PC works fine.

5. Apple Tech support had me zap pram 4 times.

6. Apple Tech support had me restart Motorola router/modem 4 times.

7. Apple Tech support says "like the old saying goes doctor my elbow hurts when I do this and the doctor says don't do this". Apple support said stay off speed test sites or any other site that disconnects wifi.

8. Apple Tech support said wipe my hard drive and reinstall old OS. I can't because I don't have hours and hours and hours.

9. Apple Tech support also ends by saying buy an Ethernet adapter and hard wire the MacBook Pro.

Any ideas I have not tried?
Thanks in advance.
G
 
fisherking,
I had to restart just to reply.....ugh. I see I can do that smc (System Management Controller)via this link:
https://www.macworld.com/article/2881177/macs/how-to-reset-your-macs-nvram-pram-and-smc.html

I'll try that and no it started with 10.14 then reading that the update .1 would help I had to go to Apple in Freehold NJ to download and they downloaded it with hardwire Ethernet then it worked for 5 min on wifi so they sent me home. Now hours of super slow wifi and phone support with zero solutions.

What is the combo updater do I have to wipe the drive?

How do I test the wifi hardware and BTW it works but each link after a few min. takes 5 or more min. to get to the link so I restart and it works for 5 or 10 min then slows to a brick.
G

fisherking said:
this started exactly with updating to 10.14.1? have you reset the smc? worth trying... and/or:

backup your mac. install the combo updater: https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1981?locale=en_US
Click to expand...
[doublepost=1542468838][/doublepost]Still no improvement. More tips please.
G


Grunthaner said:
fisherking,
I had to restart just to reply.....ugh. I see I can do that smc (System Management Controller)via this link:
https://www.macworld.com/article/2881177/macs/how-to-reset-your-macs-nvram-pram-and-smc.html

I'll try that and no it started with 10.14 then reading that the update .1 would help I had to go to Apple in Freehold NJ to download and they downloaded it with hardwire Ethernet then it worked for 5 min on wifi so they sent me home. Now hours of super slow wifi and phone support with zero solutions.

What is the combo updater do I have to wipe the drive?

How do I test the wifi hardware and BTW it works but each link after a few min. takes 5 or more min. to get to the link so I restart and it works for 5 or 10 min then slows to a brick.
G
Click to expand...
 
Apple sent me a file to run and send to them called Capture_Data.dmg. I used my PC from work to get the file and run it and sent to Apple awaiting their reply. As of now the wifi is so slow it never connects and I need to get an Ethernet adapter. I will try your new ideas fisherking and post results after I hear back but this is now beyond frustrating and I will be using my vacation time to extract all passwords, photos and data before I wipe the hard drive. I'm very disappointed with Apple for not solving the problem when they should have run some tests in the last 4 weeks.

fisherking what do you mean by remove the wifi connection, start over?
G

fisherking said:
combo update just writes over the current OS, no need to wipe the drive (but please backup first anyway).

hardware test: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

you could also:

delete the cache folder (Home>Library), reboot.
go to network preferences, remove the wifi connection, start over.

or try this: http://orderofexorcists.com
Click to expand...
 
the capture data thing is a good thing; apple can sort it out from that (hopefully).

you can 'remove the service'; in system preferences, go to network, click on wifi on the left, click the minus button. reboot. go back to that window, and add wifi... and all your settings.

otherwise, before you wipe the HD, see what apple figures out from the file you sent.

am on a 2015 macbook pro, and no such issues. so something is up with your particular setup/mac. good luck with it, let us know what happens...
 
Grunthaner said:
Apple sent me a file to run and send to them called Capture_Data.dmg. I used my PC from work to get the file and run it and sent to Apple awaiting their reply. As of now the wifi is so slow it never connects and I need to get an Ethernet adapter. I will try your new ideas fisherking and post results after I hear back but this is now beyond frustrating and I will be using my vacation time to extract all passwords, photos and data before I wipe the hard drive. I'm very disappointed with Apple for not solving the problem when they should have run some tests in the last 4 weeks.

fisherking what do you mean by remove the wifi connection, start over?
G
Click to expand...

Just boot into a live distribution of Linux or create another Mojave external boot drive. Boot into one of these OSs and determine if it’s a hardware problem. If it occurs in these environments, then it’s either your WLAN chip in the MBP or other network hardware/software. If there are no problems with the network, then your macOS installation is the culprit. At that point, decide on a clean installation from new or a backup. I have a ‘15 MBP with macOS 10.14.1 and have zero noticeable WiFi problems.
 
Still no word from Apple after sending the file. Super disappointed carrying a cable around the house and ready to go to the dark side and buy a new Dell laptop. But I'm not done with Apple yet I have allowed this situation to get to me and waste hours and now 1.5 months of my time. What disappoints me the most is how Apple support has not escalated the problem as promised and given me contact with an Apple engineer. I'll guess they have their hands full of problems with the update problems and I have not tried to advance my problem because I don't have that time but if anyone out in the MacRumors has an idea how to get a supervisor support I would appreciate that as I'm exhausted with troubleshooting via the guy named "Robert" who has not solved this problem.
Thanks in advance.



fisherking said:
the capture data thing is a good thing; apple can sort it out from that (hopefully).

you can 'remove the service'; in system preferences, go to network, click on wifi on the left, click the minus button. reboot. go back to that window, and add wifi... and all your settings.

otherwise, before you wipe the HD, see what apple figures out from the file you sent.

am on a 2015 macbook pro, and no such issues. so something is up with your particular setup/mac. good luck with it, let us know what happens...
Click to expand...
 
Grunthaner said:
Still no word from Apple after sending the file. Super disappointed carrying a cable around the house and ready to go to the dark side and buy a new Dell laptop. But I'm not done with Apple yet I have allowed this situation to get to me and waste hours and now 1.5 months of my time. What disappoints me the most is how Apple support has not escalated the problem as promised and given me contact with an Apple engineer. I'll guess they have their hands full of problems with the update problems and I have not tried to advance my problem because I don't have that time but if anyone out in the MacRumors has an idea how to get a supervisor support I would appreciate that as I'm exhausted with troubleshooting via the guy named "Robert" who has not solved this problem.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Whether you may know or not, the "Genius" bar will wipe your OS and begin with a new one if the basic networking troubleshooting doesn't resolve this problem. Most of which has been supplied here and probably elsewhere. You could have just done this yourself and saved the time you've already spent. So, in this situation whereby the basic network resets, boot into testing the hardware, and other simple solutions haven't resolved, then your doing nothing different from the Apple technicians by "starting over". Simple troubleshooting; boot into another OS from a different drive. If networking is fine, then it's the OS on your primary boot drive. Bite the bullet and reinstall.
 
You have an odd definition of "bricked", different than the one the rest of us use. But beyond that, why haven't you just rolled back to High Sierra? Never will understand people... (A) works, (B) does not, but let's insist on using (B) anyway.
 
whoisyourdaddy, I am aware that Apple will wipe my drive. The Apple Genius guy said it might be my wifi hardware and to bring it in of which I have no time to "bring it in" for the next month to do so due to work commitments and the Apple store is so fare away. Good idea to boot from another drive although Robert from Apple Tech support wants another appointment via phone to try something else which I said I would do.

Being I want another larger SSD I may just install a new drive and put the old SSD into a connection box and transfer my files that way but I have installed Paragon NTSF on my MacBook Pro in order to store my photos on an external drive and free up space. The Paragon software enables me to go back & forth with the drive to a PC. Loads of hours of work on transferring files and such with my issue.

Many years ago Apple gave us a CD with tools to test hardware, is there such a tool software to test hardware issues that I can download anymore? If I can test my hardware and it is the wifi hardware I'll mail the PowerBook Pro in for repair.

For "posguy99" the term "bricked" means no longer functioning.



whoisyourdaddy said:
Whether you may know or not, the "Genius" bar will wipe your OS and begin with a new one if the basic networking troubleshooting doesn't resolve this problem. Most of which has been supplied here and probably elsewhere. You could have just done this yourself and saved the time you've already spent. So, in this situation whereby the basic network resets, boot into testing the hardware, and other simple solutions haven't resolved, then your doing nothing different from the Apple technicians by "starting over". Simple troubleshooting; boot into another OS from a different drive. If networking is fine, then it's the OS on your primary boot drive. Bite the bullet and reinstall.
Click to expand...
 
Grunthaner said:
whoisyourdaddy, I am aware that Apple will wipe my drive. The Apple Genius guy said it might be my wifi hardware and to bring it in of which I have no time to "bring it in" for the next month to do so due to work commitments and the Apple store is so fare away. Good idea to boot from another drive although Robert from Apple Tech support wants another appointment via phone to try something else which I said I would do.

Being I want another larger SSD I may just install a new drive and put the old SSD into a connection box and transfer my files that way but I have installed Paragon NTSF on my MacBook Pro in order to store my photos on an external drive and free up space. The Paragon software enables me to go back & forth with the drive to a PC. Loads of hours of work on transferring files and such with my issue.

Many years ago Apple gave us a CD with tools to test hardware, is there such a tool software to test hardware issues that I can download anymore? If I can test my hardware and it is the wifi hardware I'll mail the PowerBook Pro in for repair.

For "posguy99" the term "bricked" means no longer functioning.
Click to expand...

Yes, Apple has built-in diagnostics testing which you can boot into. For the length of time you've spent on this based upon the thread, it would have taken you less than an hour to have booted into a different OS, even from the primary boot drive, and test it for 30 minutes to determine if it was the WLAN card failing. Failing hardware would be obvious with any OS that provides software drivers to support it. This is actually really amazing to me. How long can you keep this thread going with the uncertainty of whether its hardware or software? I'll grab the popcorn and see how this plays out because I'm done with giving sound, reasonable, and efficient advice.
 
If you have a 2015 machine, you can run the diagnostics with apple via an online utility they have called AST 2. Another thing you may be able to do that I just thought of is find the exact url for a large file, hosted somewhere that allows you do download at a decent speed, maybe like a Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft. Then, boot your machine into recovery and open terminal while you make sure you are connected to wifi. You should then be able to do 'curl -o /dev/null LinkToWin10.com' which will essentially download a 4.something GB ISO to /dev/null and display some download stats at the end with avg speed and the like. You can even rerun this a few times or find a larger file, but essentially the recovery partition is a known good environment. If you get no disconnects and speed is good, you'd probably be best served with a clean install. Yes, it will take an hour or so, but if you've spent weeks on this, probably better to be done with the problem. If you still get disconnects, I would suspect hardware.
 
whoisyourdaddy,

whoisyourdaddy said:
Yes, Apple has built-in diagnostics testing which you can boot into. For the length of time you've spent on this based upon the thread, it would have taken you less than an hour to have booted into a different OS, even from the primary boot drive, and test it for 30 minutes to determine if it was the WLAN card failing. Failing hardware would be obvious with any OS that provides software drivers to support it. This is actually really amazing to me. How long can you keep this thread going with the uncertainty of whether its hardware or software? I'll grab the popcorn and see how this plays out because I'm done with giving sound, reasonable, and efficient advice.
Click to expand...
whoisyourdaddy said:
Yes, Apple has built-in diagnostics testing which you can boot into. For the length of time you've spent on this based upon the thread, it would have taken you less than an hour to have booted into a different OS, even from the primary boot drive, and test it for 30 minutes to determine if it was the WLAN card failing. Failing hardware would be obvious with any OS that provides software drivers to support it. This is actually really amazing to me. How long can you keep this thread going with the uncertainty of whether its hardware or software? I'll grab the popcorn and see how this plays out because I'm done with giving sound, reasonable, and efficient advice.
Click to expand...


whoisyourdaddy, I'm not trying to extend my thread I'm just trying to fix my Mac with support from others. I'm sorry if my lack of knowledge and obviously skill especially understanding the suggestions annoys you as that is not my intent. Deciphering the suggestions has now become a task in itself. I only have sporadic time to troubleshoot, I travel a lot and my job keeps me from being able to focus on this situation. I am just frustrated that's all, thank you for all your efforts.
Happy Holidays,
Linda
 
Grunthaner said:
whoisyourdaddy,





whoisyourdaddy, I'm not trying to extend my thread I'm just trying to fix my Mac with support from others. I'm sorry if my lack of knowledge and obviously skill especially understanding the suggestions annoys you as that is not my intent. Deciphering the suggestions has now become a task in itself. I only have sporadic time to troubleshoot, I travel a lot and my job keeps me from being able to focus on this situation. I am just frustrated that's all, thank you for all your efforts.
Happy Holidays,
Linda
Click to expand...

Not annoyed; entertained at this point. You've mentioned "no time" but I've never seen someone take so long to troubleshoot hardware who was "aware" of what Apple technicians would perform and stated they have enough competence to do what anyone suggested in the thread. Obviously, you could have found most of the information mentioned. Unless, you're really not and failed to admit that you have no clue in terms of determining hardware or software nor how to go about implementing a troubleshooting technique. So, yes, it's my opinion it's being drawn out for attention more than anything. *End scene*
 
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